Worldwide, there are plants known as psychoactive plants that naturally contain psychedelic active components. They have a high concentration of neuroprotective substances that can interact with the nervous system to produce psychedelic effects. Despite these plants' hazardous potential, recreational use of them is on the rise because of their psychoactive properties. Early neuroscience studies relied heavily on psychoactive plants and plant natural products (NPs), and both recreational and hazardous NPs have contributed significantly to the understanding of almost all neurotransmitter systems. Worldwide, there are many plants that contain psychoactive properties, and people have been using them for ages. Psychoactive plant compounds may significantly alter how people perceive the world.
1. J Ethnopharmacol. 2016 Dec 24;194:260-268. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2016.08.003. Epub 2016 Aug 2. Effect of fenugreek on hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidemia in diabetes and prediabetes: A meta-analysis. Gong J(1), Fang K(1), Dong H(1), Wang D(1), Hu M(1), Lu F(2). Author information: (1)Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China. (2)Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430030, China. Electronic address: felu@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn. ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Fenugreek is a widely used herb for the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM) but the effects in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were controversial. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the overall effects of fenugreek on hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidemia in diabetes and prediabetes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, web of science, Chinese Biomedical Literature database (CBM), the Cochrane library, China Doctor Dissertations Full-text Database (CDFD), Wan Fang medical database, China Proceedings of Conference Full-text Database (CPCD), China national knowledge internet (CNKI) and China Master's Theses Full-text Database (CMFD) were searched to find the available literatures. RCTs with regard to the efficacy and safety of fenugreek on prediabetes or DM were included. The data of fasting blood glucose (FBG), postprandial 2h blood glucose (2hBG), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) were extracted to appraise the net change with fixed or randomized effect model. RESULTS: A total of 10 articles (12 studies) were included in the analysis. Pooled results showed fenugreek significantly decreased the levels of FBG (MD -0.84mmol/L; 95% CI -1.38 to -0.31; p=0.002), 2hBG (MD -1.30mmol/L; 95% CI -1.78 to -0.83; p<0.0001), HbA1c (MD -1.16; 95% CI -1.23 to -1.09; p<0.00001) and TC (MD -0.30mmol/L; 95% CI-0.56 to -0.03; p=0.03). In spite of the reductive trends in the TG or LDL-c levels and incremental trends of HDL-c, these results were not statistically significant or need further verification for fenugreek in the treatment of DM and prediabetes. Some studies were of low quality. No liver and kidney toxicity were found in all included studies, and the main side effects were gastrointestinal discomfort. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest fenugreek has the hypoglycaemic and TC-lowering efficacy; however, the effects on TG, LDL-c and HDL-c need further confirmations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2016.08.003 PMID: 27496582 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 2. J Chromatogr Sci. 2015 Jul;53(6):963-7. doi: 10.1093/chromsci/bmu160. Epub 2014 Dec 19. Simultaneous Determination of 10 Bioactive Components of Lophatherum gracile Brongn by HPLC-DAD. Tang Q(1), Shao M(1), Wang Y(2), Zhao H(2), Fan C(2), Huang X(2), Li Y(2), Ye W(3). Author information: (1)School of Chinese Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, PR China. (2)Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine & Natural Products, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, PR China. (3)Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine & Natural Products, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, PR China Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drugs Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, PR China chyewc@gmail.com. A high-performance liquid chromatography method coupled with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD) was developed for simultaneous determination of two coumarins and eight flavonoids in Lophatherum gracile Brongn (Gramineae), namely 5-O-coumaroylquinic acid (i), 4-O-coumaroylquinic acid (ii), luteolin 6-C-β-d-galactopyranosiduronic acid (1→2)-β-d-glucopyranoside (iii), 7-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-6-C-α-l-arabinopy ranoside (iv), isoorientin (v), swertiajaponin (vi), luteolin 6-C-β-d-galactopyranosiduronic acid (1→2)-α-l-arabinopyranoside (vii), Saponaretin (viii), swertisin (ix) and apigenin 6-C-β-d-galactopyranosiduronic acid (1→2)-α-l-arabinopyranoside (x). The analysis was performed on Cosmosil MS-IIⅡ C18 column (250 × 4.6 mm, 5 µm) with gradient elution of 0.1% aqueous acetic acid and acetonitrile. The detection wavelength was 330 nm. The developed method was able to determine the bioactive compounds with excellent resolution, precision and recovery. The validated method was successfully applied for the analysis of the 10 bioactive compounds in n samples from different cultivated regions. The results indicated that the developed method can be used as a suitable quality control method for L. gracile. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com. DOI: 10.1093/chromsci/bmu160 PMID: 25527702 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 3. Yao Xue Xue Bao. 2008 Feb;43(2):173-80. Chemical constituents from the leaves of Broussonetia papyrifera. Feng WS(1), Li HW, Zheng XK, Kuang HX, Chen SQ, Wang YZ, Zang XY. Author information: (1)Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Pharmacy, Zhengzhou 450008, China. fwsh@hactcm.edu.cn To separate and identify the chemical constituents from the leaves of Broussonetia papyrifera (Linn.) Vent, various columns including Diaion HP-20, Toyopearl HW-40C, Sephadex LH-20, silica gel were employed for the isolation and purification of compounds from the leaves of B. papyrifera. The structures of the compounds were elucidated by their physiochemical characteristics and spectral data. Nineteen compounds were isolated from the leaves of B. papyrifera and their structures were identified as apigenin (1), apigenin-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2), chrysoerid-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3), apigenin-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranuronide (4), vitexin-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (5), luteolin (6), 5,7,4'-trihydroxyl-6-C-[a-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1-->2)]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl flavone (7), 5,7,4'-trihydroxyl-8-C-[a-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1-->2)]-beta-D-glucopyranosyl flavone (8), saponaretin (9), vitexin (10), benzyl benzoate-2, 6-di-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (11), (2R, 3R, 5R, 6S, 9R)-3-hydroxy-5,6-epoxy-beta-ionol-2-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (12), (2R, 3R, 5R, 6S, 9R)-3-hydroxyl-5,6-epoxy-acetyl-beta-ionol-2-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (13), ficustriol (14), (6S, 9S)-roseoside (15), 3beta-hydroxy-5alpha,6alpha-epoxy-beta-ionone-2alpha-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (16), icariside B1 (17), sammangaoside A (18), 3-hydroxy-5alpha,6alpha-epoxy-beta-ionone (19). Compounds 11, 12 and 13 are new compounds, the others are isolated from this genus Broussonetia for the first time. PMID: 18507345 [Indexed for MEDLINE]